In the United States and Canada, millions of exotic pets, including small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates, are kept by private individuals. While large numbers are bred in captivity, significant numbers are also captured from the wild. Many of these animals receive little more than the basic necessities of life and suffer from poor welfare and high mortality rates. Unfortunately, many animal protection and animal control laws pay little attention to or do not include a broad range of the small exotic pets. In every sense of the word, they are Forgotten Creatures.